Survival in a Suburban Area without Power (vanity)

Nov 1, 2012 | Self

[BobL]

“If the main turnoff is inside your house a break could occur before the break and could cause a lot of flooding.”

Good point, thanks much.

[BobL]

“My solution will run the furnace in my house for days, indefinitely if the gas utility stays up.”

Thanks Lurker, you do need electrical power to run a furnace also...so that’s a problem in the Sandy scenario.

I have those lanterns, and yes, they definitely give out a lot of heat. As long as fumes have a place to go they can help a lot there, especially if it’s very cold.

[Lurker]

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2913038/posts

My budget for the entire project was less than $2,000.00. I’ve tested it and it works for about 1/4 the price of one of those standby generator sets.

[BobL]

“If you have running water and a gas hot water heater, you can fill the master bed room bath tub with hot water for heat. I used that trick once in a cheap motel with no heat in freezing weather.”

That’s a really neat idea...I didn’t think it would buy much, but the more I think about it, the more effective it becomes. Natural gas is cheap, water heaters are fairly efficient (even the basic ones...which, by the way, are the only ones that work during a blackout), and one can crank up their temperature quite a bit (just remember to turn it down when done).

[BobL]

“From a NJ suburbanite here, we installed a vent free natural gas stove a few years ago, great for heat.”

I like it...do you have a brand name?

[BobL]

“a 12 volt (electric) blanket”

Neat idea, makes my summary list (to be posted shortly).

[IamConservative]

I can keep it fresh by using and replenishing doing yard work.

Put sta-bil in it and once a year just fill your car and refresh your supply.

[Wissa]

Radiant quartz electric heaters are also pretty efficient for small to medium size rooms. On low, most use only about 750 watts and cycle on and off depending upon the thermostat setting.

Excluding something along the lines of a heatpump, ALL electric appliances put out 3,412.14 BTUs per kilowatt hour consumed, and they're ALL 100% efficient at producing that many BTUs per KWH. It doesn't matter if you're consuming the electricity in a $15 portable heater, or a $150 heater, or a TV or stereo, or your refrigerator, or an electric blanket.

I use the $15 heaters for much of my heating needs, although I'm gradually ramping up the heat that I get from passive solar and through capturing heat in thermal storage.

[Lurker]

You might want to look at a few of these. They are really pricey but they work and they are beautiful.

http://www.aladdinlamps.com/Products_ShowCategory.asp?CategoryID=4

Best,

L

[Errant]

A tubful would give about 3 hours of sleep in below freezing weather. I would then wake from the cold and fill it again with hot water. I thought of letting the hot water run slowly and the overflow taking care of the excess, but that seemed like too much of a waste. It may be more efficient than one would think, except for the waste of water. I suppose if you had a small transfer pump, you could set up some kind of field expedient recirculation.

[Errant]

Radiant (Infrared) heaters regardless of what kind (electric, gas, catalytic) rely more on infrared light to heat objects than in heating the air. Below is a link that provides a better description. What you get is more efficient heating from less energy.

http://www.air-n-water.com/infrared-heaters-pros-cons.htm

[Wissa]

Many nights you don't have to heat anything but your bed unless you have pets, pipes, or something else cold-sensitive to worry about.

For some odd reason, my cat likes to sleep on top of my bed when I've got the electric blanket turned on. :) Heat coming from thermal storage keeps the pipes from freezing.

Solar generated electricity is way too expensive for my tastes. If I was in a situation where I didn't have power coming in from the electric company to run my heaters and electric blanket, I'd just drastically downsize the volume of space I'm living in in the coldest periods of the year. The area around a person inside an igloo is around 60 degrees. I'd basically build an indoor igloo for a sleeping area with polystyrene sheets and aluminum foil for reflection of radiant heat. If my body heat isn't enough to keep my downsized living area comfortable, its simple enough to heat up some water with a wood fire outdoors and put it in one gallon milk jugs for a source of heat to warm the living space.

[mrsmith]

Couple hardscrabble things you can do:

Paint some 2 or 3 gallon plastic jugs flat black and put them in a window’s sunlight. They’ll get very warm.

Make a plastic tent over your bed.

[jughandle]

That stuff works? Stored the boat with it a few times but only for the winter, never tried it longer than that.

[PA Engineer]

We have a fireplace we have never used. We need to get it thoroughly inspected. Can a wood burning stove be put into a fireplace?

Yes. There are many makes and sizes. Most will still require a 6" flue pipe inserted in the chimney. You can review one of the styles by clicking on the picture or google wood stove fireplace insert.



The stoves run anywhere from $800 to thousands. Fireplaces are very inefficient. The stove insert will heat your home and is an economical option.

[jughandle]

Don’t have it right now, not home. We found it at Lowes.

[Errant]

The best thing you can do, IMO, is get yourself a good cold weather sleeping bag. Army modular systems can be found for less than $150 new. This way, you don't need heat at night even in zero degree weather as long as you are out of the elements.

I've purchased six of these for family members recently. :)

[Errant]

Btw, great post. The ability to keep warm is something most people don’t consider. Cold kills hundreds yearly and we seem to be entering a time of colder weather.

[Wissa]

What you get is more efficient heating from less energy.

What you get is some areas of the room that feel too warm if you spend much time there, and some parts of the room that feel too cool.

I find it most comfortable to have my whole living space at 68-69 degrees. A heater that operates solely by infrared heating is like a campfire. I don't want to have to turn around to warm up my backside and cool off my frontside every so often. I'd rather have both sides at a comfortable temperature.

[Errant]

The ones that I have and have given away, use quartz elements and have a fan that circulates the excess heat. Since 100% isn’t converted to infrared radiation, the remainder is circulated throughout the room so you get the best of both methods. ;)